Friday, October 28, 2011

Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant automatically shut down safely this afternoon when a transformer locked out, briefly interrupting non-safety-related power from the grid to part of the site. Operators were still investigating what caused the transformer lockout.

All plant safety systems functioned as designed, and the situation posed no danger to the public or plant workers. The shutdown was not expected to be lengthy.

The 600-megawatt plant, which is about 40 miles northwest of Minneapolis, generates enough electricity to power nearly 500,000 homes.

Earlier today, operators restored Unit 2 at Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant near Red Wing to full power after replacing seals on two reactor coolant pumps during an outage that started Oct. 4. The two-unit Prairie Island plant generates enough electricity to power about 1 million homes. Source